1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a stack of tape strips positioned one upon the other to form a pad with each strip in the pad having a tab at one end, and in one aspect to a pad where the tabs are of decreasing length relative to the length of the tape strip from the top of the pad to the last strip in the pad.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Pads of tape strips are well known in the art and placing the removable tab at one end of the strip of tape in the pad or stack affording separation of the strips in the pad are well known. One such patent showing a pad of adhesive coated strips is U.S. Pat. No. 3,373,457 wherein each adhesive sheet 38 in a stack 36 has a short non-adhesive end portion 44 on the adhesive side of each sheet to facilitate the user grasping the uppermost sheet 38 when separating it from the stack. Similarly, stacks of adhesive strips such as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,558,888 are known where each end of each strip in the pad is provided with the removable tab adhered to the end of the strip by the adhesive of the strip. These tabs facilitate removal of one strip from another in the stack.
It has been discovered however, that when removing a strip of tape from the pad by lifting on the tab to separate the strip, an equal force is applied to the next adjacent strip and there is a tendency to separate more than one strip from the stack. This is particularly true if the person separating the strips does not place his finger on the tab below the strip being separated to hold it in place.
Overcoming this problem is possible by beginning the separating or lifting to peel the top strip from the next adjacent strip at a position within the area the adjacent strip is adhered to the third strip in the stack.
The discovery of the present invention of having the tabs in the stack progressively overlap the next lower tab thus spaces the initial peeling force at a position away from the tab of the adjacent strip each time a tape strip is removed.